This invention relates to an inflatable evacuation slide arrangement of the type now installed on virtually all passenger carrying aircraft for providing means for rapid evacuation from the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
These arrangements include inflatable evacuation slides normally folded in an uninflated condition into a pack requiring a minimum of space in the interior of an aircraft exit door or immediately adjacent thereto. With the aircraft door closed, a girt extending from the inflatable evacuation slide is connected to the floor inside the aircraft doorway such that, in the event of an emergency, it is only necessary to open the aircraft door to automatically deploy the slide. When the door is open, the girt pulls the slide from its container thereby allowing the slide to fall through the now open doorway. Subsequently, the evacuation slide is rapidly inflated via an inflation source connected to the slide or aircraft door and is then ready for the evacuation of passengers within a very short period of time following the opening of the door. In this regard, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,262 issued to Bruce Malcolm on Jul. 2, 1985 (U.S. Cl. 193/25B) and to U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,079 issued to Ralph A. Miller, et al on Aug. 4, 1987 (U.S. Cl. 244/137.2).
The prior art evacuation slide arrangements as described above, being mounted to or near the aircraft door, require otherwise usable space within the aircraft passenger cabin. Also, with the prior art arrangements, the door structure has to be substantial enough to support the weight of the evacuation slide structure. Further, attachment of the particular arrangement to the aircraft exit door sill as required by the prior art results in a less rigid and less positive attachment than is optimum.
The present invention is advantageous over the prior art in that it provides an inflatable aircraft emergency evacuation slide arrangement which permits installation of the evacuation slide in an enclosure beneath an aircraft exit door within the aircraft fuselage outside of the passenger cabin. A further advantage is realized in that the enclosure for the evacuation slide opens automatically upon activation of a gas supply used to inflate the evacuation slide.
Accordingly, the present invention saves usable space within the aircraft passenger cabin; requires a less substantial exit door structure than has heretofore been the case; and provides a more rigid and positive attachment of the evacuation slide to the aircraft as is desireable.